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They've done it through a culture of excellence, bred out of Charlotte Edwards's determined leadership, nurtured by coach Mark Lane and assistant Jack Birkenshaw, and fulfilled by the dedication of a squad of players who have the advantage of feeding off one of the best players the game has seen: .

will go down as the innings of the tournament in the match of the tournament, as England overhauled Australia's 163-5.

Having made an unbeaten 39 off 32 balls to steer England to victory in Sunday's final, she was deservedly named player of the tournament for accummulating 199 runs in five matches.

New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins was the leading scorer with one run more, but it is the manner in which Taylor constructs her innings which is so impressive, displaying a calculated coolness befitting of someone who has a maths degree from Oxford.

was magnificent in the final at Lord's. It was set up by Laura Marsh's opening over in which she combined with Sarah Taylor to have Suzie Bates stumped.

Marsh then kept up the pressure at one end, while Brunt capitalised at the other to return career-best figures, all with a from an accident during fielding practice that only added to her menace.

There must have been around 10,000 people at Lord's to see the ticker tape rain down on Charlotte Edwards and her team when they lifted the trophy.

That's by far the largest crowd ever to watch a women's game in the UK, and whilst the media coverage of the women's tournament can hardly be described as 'extensive', the ICC must be applauded for having the vision to stage the tournament alongside the men's.

The good thing is the women have another chance to impress in April next year, when the format of the will be exactly the same in the West Indies.

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